It never was about nutritional content
For my part, I'll simply say I never thought it was about nutritional content. That is, the advantage of organic isn't what is there, but what is
not there.
Start with sports and enhancement chemicals. What's the point? Steroids were originally used to bulk up livestock. Before HGH, some players used
Bovine Growth Hormone. In other words, we know these things can have an effect on humans. And for the last decade or so, at least, there has been much fretting about the effect of hormone supplements in beef, dairy, and poultry products. Some would suggest that these supplements to the stock are transferring to humans, and contributing to precocious sexual development of children. I'm not thoroughly convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt, but enough to play to the side of caution.
And besides, organic beef and milk
do taste better. The downside is that my daughter likes restaurant beef more than she does the stuff I cook at home, so she's getting a dose, anyway. But, to the other, while onset of menses has occurred earlier and earlier over the years, I'm not sure the leap we've seen in recent years is entirely natural. I have a daughter who is six years old. She's doing fine as far as I can tell. I have also endured the unholy wrath of a precociously-developed nine year-old in the midst of viciously wracking premenstrual syndrome. And yes, it is frightening, not just as an individual consideration, but trying to imagine what will happen during the transitional period for society at large as children's bodies outpace their brains. Evolutionarily, the brain will eventually catch up, but it's not going to happen in the next couple of generations.
Nonetheless, the issue I face at present with organic ground beef, for instance, is fat content. Anyone who cooks with the stuff knows that 25% fat content in ground beef falls apart on a barbecue grill. 15% holds together better. And 10% even more so. At 10%, also, there is a marked difference in flavor. The flavor difference between 10 and 15 is more pronounced than between 15 and 25. And while the difference between 10, 9, and 7 is not particularly apparent, it is more pronounced if we compare 10 to 15, and then 7 to 15.
But the organic ground beef at my local market is 4% fat content. The stuff can be unwieldy to cook, but one regular method I use is to fry the whole pound with water to prevent scorching, and then store it for small doses in soup, mac & cheese, or burritos. The normal recipe is to cook it with rosemary, black pepper, and pequin, dried and ground. And the 4% is simply unforgiving. Normally, I like a heavy dose of rosemary, but the low fat content demands different ratios. Part of what makes rosemary so good on beef is that its flavor blends very well with the fat.
So actually, what I end up looking for is free-range ground beef with 9% fat content. Organic, free-range steaks I still prefer. I
do think that, generally speaking, they have a better flavor and texture.
Beyond that, it's not a matter of nutrition in itself. I eat plenty of fruit grown with various pesticides, so perhaps it seems odd that I would prefer organic hummus. But I finally found a hummus I adore—
Emerald Valley Smoked Jalapeño and Garlic—and it happens to be organic.
To the other, people tell me hummus is healthy. Looking at the numbers, I just don't see it. Unless "healthy" means, "It's not
unhealthy." Of course, with my diet, the inclusion of a prominent legume is apparently cause for celebration.
Oh, and their salsa is outstanding, too. It's probably not the fact of being organic that makes it taste so damn good, though. It's just that they make a damn fine salsa. And hummus.
